Female Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh

A Gulf Times article (no longer available online) highlights how Rural Development Academy (RDA) is currently implementing the “Good Seed Initiative” and “Women in Seed Entrepreneurship” in rural Bangladesh to help ultra poor women use ICT to start producing and processing quality seeds and connecting with the formal seed market. The learning process of these two projects is based on a digital system, where the women are shown a series of videos that educate and demonstrate the production, processing and marketing of seeds. The women are also provided with financial assistance from Swedish Development Co-operation. The programs further focuses on using the profit from selling the seeds to send their children to school in hopes of a brighter future.

This project stood out to me for its simple approach in using ICT. According to the article, the ICT used was simply a “digital system” and a series of videos to educate these women. This is a great example of the fact that ICT4D doesn’t necessarily need to be advanced in order to foster development. It is incredible that something as simple as producing and selling seeds can change the life of a woman living in rural Bangladesh.